| WARCHILD by Andrew Cartmel |
| Story 47 Synopsis: Roz is press-ganged into helping settle a state of emergency in London, as dogs are being co-ordinated to attack. In America, Creed has troubles with his marriages and his kids, especially the eldest, Ricky. He receives a summons for help from the Doctor, but ends up also press-ganged. The dogs are being led by the White King, a very old dog. The Doctor realises his mindless charge, Jack, is beginning to stir. He and Bernice transport Jack's body to London and the White King - who has Jack's mind. With help from warlock, the Doctor puts Jack back together. Jack then explains that he unwittingly gave help to Vincent Wheaton - who has been messing Creed around, and plans to use Ricky's psi talents to be the ultimate President. But the Doctor points out that Justine's other children with Creed have talents too - they derive from warlock and not Vincent. Amy, Vincent's pawn to bamboozle Creed, turns on her boss and shoots him. But she has won Creed away from Justine. |
| Review:- The conclusion to this trilogy follows two lines of approach - the dog crisis, and Ricky's growing problem, and thankfully, this works to the book's advantage. After a seemingly superfluous scene on a plane with Benny and Roz, the latter is soon plunged into the dog crisis, which links in with a stewardess she encountered on the plane. This poor woman is given more depth for a bit-part character than is usually the norm, but Cartmel does excel at giving living backstories for even the most negligible people. Roz meets a new friend in Redmond, and later Creed joins them. This whole plot plays to Roz's strengths as a law officer and a hardcase. Chris, by contrast, is trusted with a very odd plotline where he has to masquerade as a Buddhist teacher at Ricky's school. His identity there is only really hinted at, but it does fit with the pattern of the Doctor sending him on a separate mission. Sadly, he fails to protect Ricky when it counts, leading to the later showdown. As for Benny and the Doctor, they recap events in Warlock, to which this book owes a lot, and the fate of the mindless Jack. This eventually and unsurprisingly ties in with the dog plot, since the White King is Jack after all. That plot is stretched out long enough to make Jack's revelation about Vincent lead to a surprising finish - though the cliche of hiding under the pseudonym Mr Retour probably made some readers wonder if The Master was involved. In the end, it boils down to Creed's realisation that Amy was working against him all along, as part of Vincent's campaign of revenge. And her decision to turn against Vincent that puts a stop to his wacky plans for Ricky. Of course, the short-term result is that she does drive Creed away from Justine, which is a small victory for Vincent. Ricky will presumably grow up more content in the knowledge of who he is, and who his father definitely is. And whilst this trilogy ends, this book is the first in another themed series, this time linked by "psi-powers", and running through most of the following 9 books... Overall, this is quite an enjoyable book, keeping a reader intrigued and keen to see what happens next. As for the trilogy as a whole, it's probably not quite more than the sum of its parts. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |